Black Like Me is a nonfiction book about a man who became a black man Black Like Me is a nonfiction book about a man who became a black man alearned Black Like Me in the 1950s a Texas white man went through extensive physical changes to become a black man and travel for six weeks on greyhound buses. After publishing his experiences, he was forced to move to Mexico for several years. Black Like Me is a nonfiction book by journalist John Howard Griffin first published in 1961. Griffin was a white native of Dallas, Texas and the book describes his six-week experience travelling on Greyhound buses (occasionally hitchhiking) throughout the racially segregated states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia passing as a black man. Sepia Magazine financed the project in exchange for the right to print the account first as a series of articles. Griffin kept a journal of his experiences; the 188-page diary was the genesis of the book. In 1959, at the time of the book’s writing, race relations were particularly strained in America ; Griffin’s aim was to explain the difficulties facing black people in certain areas.

Under the care of a doctor , Griffin artificially darkened his skin to pass as a black man. In 1964, a film version of Black Like Me starring James Whitmore was produced.[1] Robert Bonazzi subsequently published the book Man in the Mirror: John Howard Griffin and the Story of Black Like Me. The title of the book is taken from the last line of the Langston Hughes poem “ Dream Variations”: Account of the trip In the autumn of 1959, John Howard Griffin went to a friend’s house in New Orleans, Louisiana. Once there, under the care of a dermatologist, Griffin underwent a regimen of large oral doses of the anti-vitiligo drug Methoxsalen, trade name Oxsoralen, and spending up to fifteen hours daily under an ultraviolet lamp.[2] To complete the illusion, Griffin used dyes to cover uneven areas and closely cut his hair.

During his trip, Griffin made it a rule that he would not change his name or alter his identity; if asked who he was or what he was doing, he would tell the truth.[3] In the beginning, he decided to talk as little as possible[4] to ease his transition into the “black world”, i.e., the social milieu of southern U.S. blacks . He became accustomed everywhere to the “hate stare” received from whites. After he disguised himself, many people who knew John Howard Griffin as a white man did not recognize him. A black shoeshine man named Sterling Williams in the French Quarter, a man whom Griffin regarded as a friend, made no connection with his looks now that he was black. Because Griffin wanted assistance in integrating with the black community, he decided to tell Sterling that he was in fact the white man he’d met before. He first hinted that he wore the same unusual shoes as somebody else,[5] but Sterling still did not recognize him until Griffin told him. In New Orleans, a black counterman at a small restaurant chatted with Griffin about the difficulties of finding a place to go to the bathroom.

He turned a question about a Catholic church into a joke about “spending much of your time praying for a place to piss”. An episode on the bus reveals the climate of the times. Griffin began to give his seat to a white woman on the bus, but disapproving looks from black passengers stopped him. He thought he had a momentary breakthrough with the woman, but she insulted him and began talking with other white passengers about how sassy “they” were becoming. Black Like Me - The Full Wiki The Full Wiki More info on Black Like Me Wikis Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles . Related top topics For the film based on the book, see Black Like Me (film) . Black Like Me is a non-fiction book by journalist John Howard Griffin first published in 1961 . Griffin was a white native of Mansfield, Texas and the book describes his six-week experience travelling on Greyhound buses (occasionally hitchhiking ) throughout the racially segregated states of Louisiana , Mississippi , Alabama and Georgia passing as a black man.

Sepia Magazine financed the project in exchange for the right to print the account first as a series of articles. Griffin kept a journal of his experiences; the 188-page diary was the genesis of the book. In 1959, at the time of the book's writing, race relations were particularly strained in North America ; Griffin's aim was to explain the difficulties facing black people in certain areas. Under the care of a doctor , Griffin artificially darkened his skin to pass as a black man. In 1964, a film version of Black Like Me starring James Whitmore was produced, although it ended up being a bust. [1] Robert Bonazzi subsequently published the book Man in the Mirror: John Howard Griffin and the Story of Black Like Me. The title of the book is taken from the last line of the Langston Hughes poem "Dream Variations": Rest at pale evening... 6 External links Account of the trip In the autumn of 1959, John Howard Griffin checked into the Monteleone Hotel, located at 214 Royal Street in New Orleans , Louisiana .

Once there, under the care of a dermatologist, Griffin underwent a regimen of large oral doses of the anti- vitiligo drug Methoxsalen , trade name Oxsoralen , and spending up to fifteen hours daily under an ultraviolet lamp. [2] (Vitiligo is a disease that causes lightening of the skin and is most noticeable among people of African ancestry.) To complete the illusion, Griffin used dyes to cover uneven areas and closely cut his hair. During his trip Griffin made it a rule that he would not change his name or alter his identity; if asked who he was or what he was doing, he would tell the truth [3] . In the beginning, he decided to talk as little as possible [4] to ease his transition into the "black world", i.e., the social milieu of southern U.S. blacks. He became accustomed everywhere to the "hate stare" received from whites. After he disguised himself, many people who knew John Howard Griffin as a white man did not recognize him. A shoeshine man named Sterling Williams in the French Quarter , a man whom Griffin regarded as a friend, made no connection with his looks now that he was black.

The only way Sterling realized it was Griffin was because he recognized his shoes, and Griffin opened up to him, explaining his research. [5] New Orleans (Santa Crose) A black counterman at a small restaurant chatted with Griffin about the difficulties of finding a place to go to the bathroom. He turned a question about a Catholic church into a joke about "spending much of your time praying for a rest room". An episode on the bus reveals the climate of the times. Griffin began to give his seat to a white lady on the bus, but disapproving looks from black passengers stopped him. He thought he had a momentary breakthrough with the lady, but she insulted him and began talking with other white passengers about how sassy "they" were becoming. Backlash After the publication of the book, Griffin was vilified; he was hanged in effigy in his home town of Mansfield, Texas and threatened with death. However, the book earned him international respect as a human rights activist . After its publication, he became a leading advocate in the Civil Rights Movement and did much to promote awareness of racial situations. Griffin also received many letters of support, helping him to get through this difficult period in his life.

[6] Editions John Howard Griffin (1977). Black Like Me. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-25102-8. 2nd Edition, with an epilogue by the author. John Howard Griffin (1996). Black Like Me: 35th Anniversary Edition. Signet. ISBN 0-451-19203-6. With an epilogue by the author and a new afterword by Robert Bonazzi. Library-bound printing is ISBN 0-88103-599-8 John Howard Griffin (1999). Black Like Me. Buccaneer Books. ISBN 1-56849-730-X. John Howard Griffin (2003). Black Like Me. New American Library Trade. ISBN 0-451-20864-1. John Howard Griffin (2004). Black like me: the definitive Griffin estate edition, corrected from original manuscripts. Wings Press. ISBN 0-930324-72-2. New edition.

With a foreword by Studs Terkel , historic photographs by Don Rutledge, and an afterword by Robert Bonazzi. Library-bound printing is ISBN 0-930324-73-0 UK Bookflurries: Bookchat: The Times We Lived In Bookflurries: Bookchat: The Times We Lived In Wednesday May 28, 2008 · 5:04 PM PDT 2008/05/28 · 17:04 39 Welcome to bookchat where you can talk about anything...books, plays, essays, quotes, words, magazines, and books on tape. You don’t have to be reading a book to come in, sit down, and chat with us. When I left high school in 1962, I was pretty naïve about a lot of things. College helped immensely, of course, and I loved it there and grew a lot in mind and spirit. With me, though, it was true that the more I learned, the more questions I had and that led me to buy and read books that had not been available in my small town library or school library.

This poem was one of the first to really hit my heart and led to my reading and loving the work of other Black poets. Merry-Go-Round Where is the Jim Crow section On this merry-go-round, Mister, cause I want to ride? Down South where I come from White and colored Can't sit side by side. Down South on the train There's a Jim Crow car. On the bus we're put in the back— But there ain't no back To a merry-go-round! For a kid that's black? Langston Hughes A hat tip and a thank you to this lady who published this comment which led me to reply and then to decide to write this diary for Bookflurries, tonight. Some of the younger people around here may not have understood that the wound could be there. I didn't even know, other than maybe skimming over it in class once, that MLK and RFK died in the same year until last night. I certainly didn't have a clue about what RFK was trying to stand for in his nomination bid, and even now I feel like I have maybe a third of a clue.

We really need a Progressive History 101 series by older members aimed at my generation that includes even the things our elders might consider obvious. by Cassandra Waites on Sun May 25, 2008 at 02:33:48 AM EDT It is true that there is no way to cover all that went on in a few paragraphs and a time line, tonight, but it might send young people searching for more information, or those of us who lived through those days might go searching for details that have left our memories. There is controversy mixed with everything on the lists below and I understand that. In comments, I hope you will list your favorite books and authors of the past. It is painful, yes. I have not forgotten. The wounds are not all healed. Many of these happenings are burned into my brain as hope sprang up and then died. But, I do feel hope and I hope you do, too, again, this political season. The timeline lists not just times of horror, but times of progress and victory.

After I wrote the diary, I did wonder how we managed to get through those years and there are others here on DKos like Meteor Blades and Testvet and other veterans who have personal stories to share about the times that make me feel humble. I had to leave some things out because of the already long length so feel free to mention these items in your comments, too. To help in understanding the times we lived in, I am using two timelines and adding some extra dates on my own from wiki...which will be noted as such. Black history timeline: Gale : Free Resources : Black History I am adding in other events from another timeline and I will use italics for those: The one I used for italics: April 19. Jackie Robinson became the first black to play major league baseball. 1948 Alice Coachman takes gold in the high jump at the Olympic Games in London. She is the first black woman to win Olympic gold and the only American woman that year to win. Gordon Roger Alexander Buchannan Parks (November 30, 1912 – March 7, 2006) was a groundbreaking American photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist and film director.

He is best remembered for his photo essays for Life magazine and as the director of the 1971 film Shaft... A 1948 photo essay on a young Harlem gang leader won Parks a staff job as a photographer and writer with Life magazine. For 20 years, Parks produced photos on subjects including fashion, sports, Broadway, poverty, racial segregation, and portraits of Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, Muhammad Ali, and Barbra Streisand. His 1961 photo essay on a poor Brazilian boy named Flavio da Silva, who was dying from bronchial pneumonia and malnutrition, brought donations that saved the boy's life and paid for a new home for his family. 1950 September 22. Ralph J. Bunche won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a mediator in Palestine. Gwendolyn Brooks is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for Annie Allen, becoming the first African-American writer to win the award. 1952 After keeping statistics kept for 71 years, Tuskegee reported that this was first year with no lynchings.

1953 In 1953, James Baldwin's first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, an autobiographical bildungsroman, was published. Baldwin's first collection of essays, Notes of a Native Son, appeared two years after. Baldwin continued to experiment with literary forms throughout his career, publishing poetry and plays as well as the fiction and essays for which he was known. Baldwin's second novel, Giovanni's Room, stirred controversy when it was first published in 1956 due to its explicit homoerotic content. Baldwin was again resisting labels with the publication of this work: despite the reading public's expectations that he would publish works dealing with the African American experience, Giovanni's Room is exclusively about white characters. Baldwin's next two novels, Another Country and Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone, are sprawling, experimental works[citation needed] dealing with black and white characters and with heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual characters. These novels struggle to contain the turbulence of the 1960s...

Baldwin's lengthy essay Down at the Cross (frequently called The Fire Next Time after the title of the book in which it was published)[9] similarly showed the seething discontent of the 1960s in novel form. The essay was originally published in two oversized issues of The New Yorker and landed Baldwin on the cover of Time magazine in 1963 while Baldwin was touring the South speaking about the restive Civil Rights movement. The essay talked about the uneasy relationship between Christianity and the burgeoning Black Muslim movement. Baldwin's next book-length essay, No Name in the Street, also discussed his own experience in the context of the later 1960s, specifically the assassinations of three of his personal friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. 1954 May 17. In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court completed overturning legal school segregation at all levels. 1955 December 1. Rosa Parks refused to change seats in a Montgomery, Alabama, bus.

On December 5 blacks began a boycott of the bus system which continued until shortly after December 13, 1956, when the United States Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation in the city. Opera diva Leontyne Price is triumphant in the title role of the National Broadcasting Company's Tosca, making her the first black to sing opera on television. That same year, singer and guitarist Chuck Berry travels from St. Louis to Chicago, recording "Maybellene," an immediate sensation among teenagers. The hit helps shape the evolution of rock and roll. 1956 Arthur Mitchell, future director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, becomes the only black dancer in the New York City Ballet. George Balanchine creates several roles especially for him. 1957 February 14. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was formed with Martin Luther King, Jr., as president. August 29. Congress passed the Voting Rights Bill of 1957, the first major civil rights legislation in more than 75 years. Althea Gibson became the first African-American to win at Wimbledon and Forest Hills (a feat she repeated in 1958). 1958 The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is formed.

Composed primarily of African Americans, the dance company tours extensively both in the United States and abroad. 1959 Singer Ray Charles records "What'd I Say," which becomes his first million-seller, and exemplifies the emergence of soul music, combining rhythm and blues with gospel. Trumpeter Miles Davis records Kind of Blue, often considered his masterwork, with composer-arranger-pianist Bill Evans and tenor saxophonist John Coltrane. Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, becomes the first drama by a black woman to be produced on Broadway. And Motown Records is founded in Detroit, Michigan, by Berry Gordy, Jr. The "Motown sound" dominates black popular music through the 1960s and attracts a significant white audience as well. Black Like Me is a non-fiction book by journalist John Howard Griffin first published in 1961. Griffin was a white native of Mansfield, Texas and the book describes his six-week experience travelling throughout the racially segregated states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia passing as a black man. Sepia Magazine financed the project in exchange for the right to print the account first as a series of articles.

Griffin kept a journal of his experiences; the 188-page diary was the genesis of the book. In 1959, at the time of the book's writing, race relations were particularly strained in North America; Griffin's aim was to explain the difficulties facing black people in certain areas. To expedite this, under the care of a doctor, Griffin artificially darkened his skin to pass as a black man. 1960 The sit-in movement is launched at Greensboro, N.C., when black college students insist on service at a local segregated lunch counter. James Meredith was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi of Native American (Choctaw) and African American heritage. He enlisted in the United States Air Force right out of high school and served from 1951 to 1960. He then attended Jackson State College for two years. He applied to the University of Mississippi, but was denied twice. On October 1, 1962, he became the first black student at the University of Mississippi, after being barred from entering on September 20.

His enrollment, virulently opposed by segregationist Governor Ross Barnett, sparked riots on the Oxford campus, which required federal troops and U.S. Marshals, who were sent by President John F. Kennedy. The riots led to a violent clash which left two people dead, including French journalist Paul Guihard, 48 soldiers injured and 30 U.S. Marshals with gun wounds. Barnett was fined $10,000 and sentenced to jail for contempt but he never paid the fine or served time. This was because the charges were dismissed by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Meredith's actions are regarded as a pivotal moment in the history of civil rights in the United States. He graduated on August 18, 1963 with a degree in Political Science... 1963 Medgar Evers, Mississippi field secretary for the NAACP, is shot and killed in an ambush in front of his home, following a historic broadcast on the subject of civil rights by President John F. Kennedy. In Birmingham, Ala. In the weeks leading up to his death, Evers found himself the target of a number of threats.

His public investigations into the murder of Emmett Till and his vocal support of Clyde Kennard made him a prominent black leader and therefore vulnerable to attack. On May 28, 1963, a molotov cocktail was thrown into the carport of his home. Five days before his death, Evers was nearly run down by a car after he emerged from the Jackson NAACP office. Civil rights demonstrations accelerated in Jackson during the first week of June 1963. A local television station granted Evers time for a short speech, his first in Mississippi, where he outlined the goals of the Jackson movement. Following the speech, threats on Evers' life increased... On June 12, 1963, Evers pulled into his driveway after just returning from a meeting with NAACP lawyers. Emerging from his car and carrying NAACP T-shirts that read "Jim Crow Must Go," Evers was struck in the back with a bullet fired from an Enfield 1917 30.06 rifle that ricocheted into his home. He staggered 30 feet before collapsing. He died at a local hospital 50 minutes later. Evers was murdered just hours after President John F.

Kennedy's speech on national television in support of civil rights... The 1996 film Ghosts of Mississippi directed by Rob Reiner tells the story of the 1994 retrial of Beckwith, in which prosecutor Robert Delaughter of the District Attorney's office secured a conviction. Beckwith and Delaughter were played by James Woods and Alec Baldwin respectively. Evers' widow, Myrlie, became a noted activist in her own right later in life, eventually serving as chair of the NAACP. Medgar's brother Charles returned to Jackson in July 1963 and served briefly in his slain brother's place. Charles Evers remained involved in Mississippi Civil Rights for years to come. He resides in Jackson. Sidney Poitier wins the Academy Award as best actor for his performance in Lilies of the Field in 1963. April 3. Under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr., blacks began a campaign against discrimination in Birmingham. A watershed in the civil rights movement occurred in 1963 when Birmingham Civil Rights Movement leader Fred Shuttlesworth requested that Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) come to Birmingham to help end segregation.

Together they launched "Project C" (for "Confrontation"), a massive assault on the Jim Crow system. During April and May daily sit-ins and mass marches were met with police repression, tear gas, attack dogs, and arrests. More than 3,000 people were arrested during these protests, many of them children. These protests were ultimately successful, leading not only to desegregation of public accommodations in Birmingham but also the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While imprisoned for having taken part in a nonviolent protest, Dr. King wrote the now famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, a defining treatise in his cause against segregation. Birmingham is also known for a bombing which occurred later that year, in which four black girls were killed by a bomb planted at the 16th Street Baptist Church. The event would inspire the African-American poet Dudley Randall's opus, The Ballad of Birmingham, as well as jazz musician John Coltrane's song, "Alabama." June-August. Civil rights protests took place in most major urban areas. August 28. The March on Washington was the largest civil rights demonstration ever. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. John F.

Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. 1964 Martin Luther King Jr. is the youngest person awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He is 35. January 23. The Twenty-fourth Amendment forbade the use of the poll tax to prevent voting. March 12. Malcolm X announced his split from Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam. He would be assassinated on February 21, 1965. Freedom Summer (also known as the Mississippi Summer Project) was a campaign in the United States launched in June 1964 to attempt to register to vote as many African American voters as possible in Mississippi, which up to that time had almost totally excluded black voters. The project was organized by the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) which was an umbrella of four established civil rights organizations: the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), with SNCC playing the lead role.

Over 1,000, mostly young, people volunteered, most of them northern whites, many of them Jewish, interested in helping out the civil rights cause. Two one-week orientation sessions for the volunteers were held at Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio, from June 14 to June 27... Violence struck the campaign almost as soon as it started. On June 21, 1964, James Chaney (a black volunteer from Mississippi), and CORE organizer Michael Schwerner and summer volunteer Andrew Goodman (both of whom were Jews from New York) were abducted, tortured, and killed by Klansmen from Philadelphia, Mississippi. The volunteers' badly beaten bodies were found several months later buried in an earthen dam. Mississippi refused to investigate or indict anyone for the murders. After a year, seven men were tried and convicted after a year for minor federal crimes related to the murders, but few served time in jail; none more than four years.

As a result of investigative reporting by journalist Jerry Mitchell—an award winning reporter for the Jackson Clarion-Ledger—and high school teacher Barry Bradford along with a team of three students from Illinois (Brittany Saltiel, Sarah Siegel, and Allison Nichols), Edgar Ray Killen, the organizer of the killings, was finally indicted for murder and was found guilty of three counts of manslaughter on June 21, 2005, the forty-first anniversary of the crime. He appealed the verdict, but his punishment of 3 times 20 years in prison was upheld on January 12, 2007, in a hearing by the Mississippi Supreme Court. References Doug McAdam, Freedom Summer (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). ISBN 0-19-504367-7 Susie Erenrich, editor, Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: An Anthology of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement (Montgomery, AL: Black Belt Press, 1999).

ISBN 1-881320-58-8 Activists Ralph Abernathy • Victoria Gray Adams • Ella Baker • Stokely Carmichael • Shirley Chisholm • Vernon Dahmer • Annie Devine • Medgar Evers • James Farmer • James Forman • Fannie Lou Hamer • Dorothy Height • T. R. M. Howard • Jesse Jackson • Clyde Kennard • Coretta Scott King • Martin Luther King, Jr. • John Lewis • Viola Liuzzo • Malcolm X • Bob Moses • Rosa Parks • A. Philip Randolph • Bayard Rustin • Modjeska Monteith Simkins • Fred Shuttlesworth • Roy Wilkins • Whitney Young July 18-August 30. Beginning in Harlem, serious racial disturbances occurred in more than six major cities. 1965 January 2. The SCLC launched a voter drive in Selma, Alabama. which escalated into a nationwide protest movement. February 21. Malcolm X assassinated in Harlem by members of the Nation of Islam. August 11-21.

The Watts riots left 34 dead, more than 3,500 arrested, and property damage of about 225 million dollars. 1966 July 1-9. CORE endorsed the concept "Black Power." SNCC also adopted it. SCLC did not and the NAACP emphatically did not. October. The Black Panther Party was founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California. from wiki article above about James Meredith * Meredith continued his education at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. He received an LL.B (law degree) from Columbia University in 1968. Meredith ceased being a civil rights activist in the late 1960s and found employment as a stockbroker. He led a civil rights march, the March Against Fear from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi in 1966 and was wounded by sniper Aubrey James Norvell on June 6. The photograph of Meredith after being shot won the Pulitzer Prize for Photography in 1967. 1967 May 1-October 1. This was the worst summer for racial disturbances in United States history.

More than 40 riots and 100 other disturbances occurred. January 27 - Apollo 1: U.S. astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward Higgins White, and Roger Chaffee are killed when fire breaks out in their Apollo spacecraft during a launch pad test. April 4 - Martin Luther King, Jr. denounces the Vietnam War during a religious service in New York City. June 12 - Loving v. Virginia: The United States Supreme Court declares all U.S. state laws prohibiting interracial marriage to be unconstitutional. June 14 - The People's Republic of China tests its first hydrogen bomb. June 25 - 400 million viewers watch Our World, the first live, international, satellite television production. It features the live debut of The Beatles' song "All You Need is Love." July 23 - 12th Street Riot: In Detroit, Michigan, one of the worst riots in United States history begins on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city (43 killed, 342 injured and 1,400 buildings burned). July 29 - An explosion and fire aboard the U.S.

Navy aircraft carrier USS Forrestal in the Gulf of Tonkin leaves 134 dead. August 19 - West Germany receives 36 East German prisoners it has "purchased" through the border posts of Herleshausen and Wartha. August 21 - The People's Republic of China announces that it has shot down United States planes violating its airspace. August 25 - American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell is assassinated in Arlington, Virginia. August 30 - Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Justice of the United States Supreme Court. September 18 - Love Is a Many Splendored Thing debuts on U.S. daytime television and is the first soap opera to deal with an interracial relationship. CBS censors find it too controversial and ask for it to be stopped, causing show creator Irna Phillips to quit. October 8 - Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia. October 9 - Che Guevara executed. October 16 - Thirty-nine people, including singer-activist Joan Baez, are arrested in Oakland, California, for blocking the entrance of that city's military induction center.

October 21 - Tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters march in Washington, D.C.. Allen Ginsberg symbolically chants to 'levitate' The Pentagon. November 7 - Carl B. Stokes is elected mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, becoming the first African American mayor of a major United States city. November 15 - Civil rights activists in the US succeed in their campaign to extend the definition of murder to include the killing of blacks. November 29 - Vietnam War: U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara announces his resignation, to become president of the World Bank. This action is due to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's outright rejection of McNamara's early November recommendations to freeze troop levels, stop bombing North Vietnam and hand over ground fighting to South Vietnam. December 3 - Christian Barnard carries out the world's first heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in Capetown. 1968 April 4. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. In the following week riots occurred in at least 125 places throughout the country. 1968 March 16 - Vietnam War: My Lai massacre - American troops kill scores of civilians.

April - Carl Brashear, the first African American United States Navy diver, becomes the first amputee certified to make diving missions, after a long battle which started with the accident which amputated his leg in 1966. April 6 - A shootout between Black Panthers and Oakland police results in several arrests and deaths, including 16-year-old Panther Bobby Hutton. April 11 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968. June 3 - Radical feminist Valerie Solanas shoots Andy Warhol as he enters his studio, wounding him. On June 4, 1968, Robert Kennedy scored a major victory when he won the California primary. He addressed his supporters in the early morning hours of June 5, 1968 in a ballroom at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He left the ballroom through a service area to greet supporters working in the hotel's kitchen. In a crowded kitchen passageway, Sirhan Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian, opened fire with a .22 caliber revolver and shot Kennedy in the head at close range.

Following the shooting, Kennedy was rushed to The Good Samaritan Hospital where he died the next day. August 20 - The Prague Spring of political liberalization ends, as 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 5,000 tanks invade Czechoslovakia. Alexander Dubček (November 27, 1921 – November 7, 1992) was a Slovak politician and briefly leader of Czechoslovakia (1968-1969), famous for his attempt to reform the Communist regime (Prague Spring). Later, after the overthrow of the Communist government, he was Speaker of the federal Czechoslovak parliament (Federal Assembly)... Dubček tried to reassure the Soviets and the Warsaw Pact leaders that he was still friendly to Moscow, arguing that the reforms were an internal matter. He thought he had learned an important lesson from the failing of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, believing the Kremlin would allow him a free hand in pursuing domestic reform as long as Czechoslovakia remained a faithful ally of the Soviet Union, under Communist rule. Despite Dubček's continuing efforts to stress these commitments, Brezhnev and other Warsaw Pact leaders remained wary.

The Prague Spring ended shortly before midnight on August 20, 1968, when Warsaw Pact forces entered Czechoslovakia. The occupying armies quickly seized control of Prague and the building where the Central Committee had been meeting, taking Dubček and other reformers into Soviet custody. But before they were arrested, Dubček urged the people not to resist. August 22-August 30 - Police clash with anti-war protesters in Chicago, Illinois, outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which nominates Hubert Humphrey for U.S. President, and Edmund Muskie for Vice President. October 14 - Vietnam War: The United States Department of Defense announces that the United States Army and United States Marines will send about 24,000 troops back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours. December 24 - Apollo Program: U.S. spacecraft Apollo 8 enters orbit around the Moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William A. Anders become the first humans to see the far side of the Moon and planet Earth as a whole. 1969 July 20 - Project Apollo: The Eagle lands on the lunar surface.

The world watches in awe as Neil Armstrong takes his historic first steps on the Moon. October 29. The Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in schools had to end at once and that unitary school systems were required. 1970 Apollo 13 was the third manned lunar-landing mission, part of Project Apollo under NASA in the United States. The crew members were Commander James A. Lovell, Command Module pilot John L. "Jack" Swigert, and Lunar Module pilot Fred W. Haise. It launched on April 11, 1970 at 2:13 EST. Two days after the launch, the Apollo spacecraft was crippled by an explosion, caused by a fault in an oxygen tank. The explosion damaged the Service Module, resulting in a loss of oxygen and electrical power. The crew used the Lunar Module as a "lifeboat" in space. The command module remained fully functional on its internal batteries, but they were needed for re-entry and landing so it was shut down shortly after the accident. Despite great hardship caused by severe constraints on power, cabin heat, and potable water, the crew successfully returned to Earth. The mission was thus called a "Successful Failure" July 1.

Kenneth Gibson became the first black mayor of an Eastern city when he assumed the post in Newark, New Jersey. August 7. There was a shootout during an attempted escape in a San Rafael, California, courthouse. Implicated in the incident, Angela Davis went into hiding to avoid arrest. Davis would be acquitted of all charges on June 4, 1972. 1972 Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm (November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician, educator and author. She was a Congresswoman, representing New York's 12th District for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In 1968, she became the first African-American woman elected to Congress. On January 23, 1972, she became the first major party African-American candidate for President of the United States. 1975 Lee Elder is the first black to play in the Masters Tournament at Augusta, Ga. Tennis player Arthur Ashe wins the singles title at Wimbledon, becoming the first black to win a major men's singles championship.

1977 Alex Haley's Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1976) is adapted for television, becoming one of the most popular shows in the history of American television. 1981 First Columbia flight, first orbital test flight 1983 Guion Steward Bluford Jr. is the first African American in space... 1986 Challenger Shuttle disintegrated 73 seconds after launch 1989 President George Bush nominates Colin Powell as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, making him the first black officer to hold the highest military post in the United States. Oprah Winfrey becomes the first African-American to own her own television and film production company, Harpo Studios, Inc. 1992 Mae Jemison becomes the first African-American woman astronaut, spending more than a week orbiting Earth in the space shuttle Endeavour. Carol Moseley-Braun becomes the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate, representing the state of Illinois. 2002 Halle Berry becomes the first African-American woman to be awarded an Oscar for best actress in a leading role. She wins for her role in Monster's Ball.

Denzel Washington wins the Academy Award for best actor in a leading role for his part in Training Day. Tavis Smiley is the first African American to host his own signature program on NPR, and Michele Norris becomes the first black woman to regularly host an NPR newsmagazine. Other timelines: Black Like Me : definition of Black Like Me and synonyms of Black Like Me (English) 978-0-451-19203-5 Black Like Me is a nonfiction book by journalist John Howard Griffin first published in 1961 . Griffin was a white native of Dallas, Texas and the book describes his six-week experience travelling on Greyhound buses (occasionally hitchhiking ) throughout the racially segregated states of Louisiana , Mississippi , Alabama and Georgia passing as a black man. Sepia Magazine financed the project in exchange for the right to print the account first as a series of articles. Griffin kept a journal of his experiences; the 188-page diary was the genesis of the book. In 1959, at the time of the book's writing, race relations were particularly strained in America ; Griffin's aim was to explain the difficulties facing black people in certain areas.

Under the care of a doctor , Griffin artificially darkened his skin to pass as a black man. In 1964, a film version of Black Like Me starring James Whitmore was produced. [1] Robert Bonazzi subsequently published the book Man in the Mirror: John Howard Griffin and the Story of Black Like Me. The title of the book is taken from the last line of the Langston Hughes poem "Dream Variations": Rest at pale evening... 7 External links Account of the trip In the autumn of 1959, John Howard Griffin went to a friend's house in New Orleans , Louisiana . Once there, under the care of a dermatologist, Griffin underwent a regimen of large oral doses of the anti- vitiligo drug Methoxsalen , trade name Oxsoralen , and spending up to fifteen hours daily under an ultraviolet lamp. [2] To complete the illusion, Griffin used dyes to cover uneven areas and closely cut his hair. During his trip, Griffin made it a rule that he would not change his name or alter his identity; if asked who he was or what he was doing, he would tell the truth.

[3] In the beginning, he decided to talk as little as possible [4] to ease his transition into the "black world", i.e., the social milieu of southern U.S. blacks. He became accustomed everywhere to the "hate stare" received from whites. After he disguised himself, many people who knew John Howard Griffin as a white man did not recognize him. A black shoeshine man named Sterling Williams in the French Quarter , a man whom Griffin regarded as a friend, made no connection with his looks now that he was black. Because Griffin wanted assistance in integrating with the black community, he decided to tell Sterling that he was in fact the white man he'd met before. He first hinted that he wore the same unusual shoes as somebody else, [5] but Sterling still did not recognize him until Griffin told him. In New Orleans, a black counterman at a small restaurant chatted with Griffin about the difficulties of finding a place to go to the bathroom. He turned a question about a Catholic church into a joke about "spending much of your time praying for a place to piss". An episode on the bus reveals the climate of the times.

Griffin began to give his seat to a white lady on the bus, but disapproving looks from black passengers stopped him. He thought he had a momentary breakthrough with the lady, but she insulted him and began talking with other white passengers about how sassy "they" were becoming. Reaction After his book was published, Griffin received many letters of support, helping him get through this difficult period. [6] Griffin became a national celebrity for a time. In a 1975 essay included in later editions of the book, he described the hostility and threats to him and his family which emerged in his Texas hometown. He was forced to move to Mexico for a number of years. [7] [8] Editions John Howard Griffin (1961). Black Like Me. Houghton Mifflin. LCCN 61005368. John Howard Griffin (1962). Black Like Me. Signet Books. ISBN 0-451-09703-3 . John Howard Griffin (1977). Black Like Me. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-25102-8 .

2nd Edition, with an epilogue by the author. John Howard Griffin (1996). Black Like Me: 35th Anniversary Edition. Signet. ISBN 0-451-19203-6 . With an epilogue by the author and a new afterword by Robert Bonazzi . Library-bound printing is ISBN 0-88103-599-8 John Howard Griffin (1999). Black Like Me. Buccaneer Books. ISBN 1-56849-730-X . John Howard Griffin (2003). Black Like Me. New American Library Trade. ISBN 0-451-20864-1 . John Howard Griffin (2004). Black like me: the definitive Griffin estate edition, corrected from original manuscripts. Wings Press. ISBN 0-930324-72-2 . New edition. With a foreword by Studs Terkel , historic photographs by Don Rutledge , and an afterword by Robert Bonazzi.

Library-bound printing is ISBN 0-930324-73-0 UK John Howard Griffin (1962). Black Like Me. Collins. John Howard Griffin (1962). Black Like Me. The Catholic Book Club. John Howard Griffin (1962). Black Like Me. Grafton Books. ISBN 0-586-02482-4 . (repeatedly reprinted under same ISBN) John Howard Griffin (1964). Black Like Me. Panther. ISBN 0-586-02824-2 . Trivia Malcolm X makes reference to this book in The Autobiography of Malcolm X . A Boy Meets World episode, 'Chick Like Me', references and bases the plot on Black Like Me. A Saturday Night Live episode featured a short film starring Eddie Murphy called "White Like Me" where they used make-up effects to turn Murphy into a white man. "White Like Me" In the John Waters film Hairspray , itself about racism, Penny Pingleton ( Leslie Ann Powers ) is seen reading this book while standing in line next to her African-American boyfriend.

See also You can’t walk the walk; but, do more than just talk the talk… | NormsMilfordBlog You can’t walk the walk; but, do more than just talk the talk… “There’s a simple trick for getting along with all kinds of people. You climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (Atticus Finch) – from the Jack’s Winning Words blog. Jack went on to write – The Civil Rights Movement was stirred by more than the marches. The novel, “To Kill a Mocking Bird,” also played a role. Do you recall that the character Atticus from that book and movie helped his children see civil rights in a new way? There is another well-known saying – “You can’t really understand another person’s experience until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” While I agree with the underlying sentiment of both expressions, the reality is that none of us has the ability to truly put ourselves in someone else’s skin or shoes, so that we experience things from the same perspective. There have been attempts by whites in the past to understand the perspective of African-American, the first reportedly by journalist Ray Sprigle.

In 1948 (from WikiPedia), Sprigle disguised himself as a black man and wrote a series of articles under the title, “I Was a Negro in the South for 30 Days“, which was published in many newspapers. In 1961 journalist John Howard Griffin published Black Like Me, a nonfiction book which describes his six-week experience travelling on Greyhound buses (occasionally hitchhiking) throughout the racially segregated states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia passing as a black man. Griffin kept a journal of his experiences which became the material for the book and later the film. Griffin was a white native of Dallas, Texas and underwent treatments under a doctor’s supervision that turned his skin dark. His book was turned into a 1961 movie starring James Whitmore. Both Sprigle and Griffin reported quite a bit of harassment over their articles and the book’s assessment of racism in America at that time. One can perhaps make the leap through time to see that today we have greatly expanded the categories of people who are stereotyped and discriminated against in our society.

African-Americans have been joined by other identifiable racial or ethnic groups who have migrated to American and who are “profiled” to use a modern term by the white segment of our society and many would say by the police and other authorities. Add to that list the whole GLBT category of people whose appearance may blend in, but who fail the “WHAT” test for the so-called moral majority. There is no way to get some Doctor to help you disguise yourself in enough ways such that you could, “climb into his skin and walk around in it” for each of these groups. So, we really can’t put ourselves into the skin or shoes of another person. Most of us can’t truly understand what it’s like to be judged by what you are or what you look like rather than who you are. The people who make those judgments seldom take the time to get to know who you are, since they have already formed an opinion of you based upon what you are or what you look like. It is also interesting that those very groups who are being discriminated against many times develop stereotypes about their tormentors, which they then indiscriminately apply to all who share a similar appearance.

African-Americans, many with more than enough reason from personal experiences; often have “white bread” stereotypes that they use as a broad-brush for all Caucasians that they encounter. The GLBT community likely has some strong stereotypes about the “straight” community, as well. Unfortunately, all too many of the traits of these caricatures are based in observed behavior by all of the groups involved. We tend to hold onto the worst case scenarios that we observe and let the good that was also there fade in our memories. The strength of those dueling stereotypes can make the establishment of true lines of communications difficult. Fortunately most of the groups have one thing in common that is both powerful and useful for getting passed the barriers that separate – faith. None of the stereotyped groups is shunned because they are atheists. In fact, many have very strong religious beliefs that were born out of the need for God’s help to get through the hardships of the discrimination. Some of the most virulent haters may thump their Bibles and claim that those they hate are Godless or that “Their God” condemns the behavior that they don’t approve of; having put aside the most basic Commandment of all to love one another as they love their God.

Pray for them for they have truly lost their way. So, it is not surprising that often the churches that these groups belong to and the church leaders are often at the forefront of the efforts to promote understanding and acceptance between the groups. It is hard to continue turning the other cheek when you have been slapped upside both sides of your head, Tased and perhaps shot. It is hard to stay positive and motivated to work within “the system”, when the system has denied you the basic marital rights that you deserve. It is hard not to get angry when you are stopped and search every time you try to fly somewhere just because of where you or your parents came to America from. Put yourself in those shoes and you won’t be able to walk a mile before you are stopped and questioned about why you are walking through “their neighborhood”. You should, it will be pointed out, “go back to where you belong.” For all of these reasons, it is critical that the churches keep delivering the messages of forgiveness and love for your fellow men; and that they keep reaching out, no matter how many times their hand is rejected.

The church leaders who are preaching against hate and discrimination and for tolerance and love are just trying to show us all the way back to the core beliefs of our Faiths. There are more than a few examples in the Bible of Jesus and the Disciples reaching out to people who were not “like us”, not Jews; and even a few descriptions of Him going into their homes to share meals. Eventually, those who were ”not like us” became the majority of the believers, because they accepted the message of the Good News. I have a feeling that our goal may not have to be to get all the way to understanding everything about the people in any of these groups; but, rather, to get rid of the hate that comes along with the stereotypes that we have adopted about them. I could walk 10 miles in the shoes of Snoop Dog and still not understand some of the stuff that he says or where he’s coming from; but, maybe I should stop worrying about that and focus instead in accepting him as a fellow man. I may never understand the attraction between two men (or two women) for each other, but I do understand the concept of the love that they can share and that’s enough for me.

To use a famous phrase from someone who had every right not to be in the mood to say them, “can’t we all just get along?” Share this:

Question: Which 1961 non-fiction book by US journalist John Howard Griffin describes his six-week experience travelling on buses through racially segregated states while passing as a black man?
Answer: Black Like Me